Last but not least in the Tell Us Tuesday questions inspired by this survey:
What was the best financial, personal finance or frugality advice that you’ve ever received from an older person (in your family or someone that you know personally) and what advice will you give to your children.
I’ll go first.
I think the best advice I’ve received from a family member was from my grandmother, who was very financially savvy, who told me to always invest in things that people would always need. She used as an example GE stock, saying that people would always need refrigerators, but I think you could take that to mean things like clean energy, or water, or affordable food and so on. As far as advice that I would pass on to my children, I think it would be to start saving early, even without a concrete plan, because you’ll never have too much money saved.
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{ 4 comments }
My grandma is never afraid to share her advice. Best one-liner from her was, “don’t buy crap.” Even created a video of her sharing some money advice. http://www.threethriftyguys.com/2010/05/a-conversation-with-grandma-june-on-money-and-marriage/
A very interesting question. My grandparents were both from the depression era, but my mom’s parents in particular came away from that experience with a deep mistrust of the financial markets. So while they never said it directly, they were always very big on gold and other precious metals, things which are “real.” In fact, my experiences with them, as well as many other observations I have made over time, inspired me to write a recent article on it entitled, “The Evolution of Money Management and Why it Matters to You.”
Mine’s a little more micro … My parents always told me that when you finish paying off a car loan, that you should keep making that car payment into a savings account so you can at least have a hefty down payment for your next car. Over time, depending on how long you go between new cars, you should get to the point where you pay cash for your car.
Particularly, I like the fact that my parents always encouraged us to be frugal enough to not need loans in the first place but never harangued us if we did. They just want us to make smart decisions for whatever situation. 🙂
Pay yourself first. That was the biggest lesson I received.
My grandfather came to America from Holland in 1962 with two young daughters, a wife, and $80 in his pocket. He would always fix up his home, even if it was a rental, and was always mindful of his money. My mother would tell me how he would come home on payday with wads of cash in his jacket. He would always take a good ten to twenty percent and stow it away in his savings before even considering paying for anything with it.
A great lesson.